This study indicates that the combination of the anti-inflammatory actions of colchicine and minocycline is effective in disease control in HS. Colchicine emerged as a safe option for the maintenance of the obtained result.
Serum testing of anti-Dsg1 and anti-Dsg3 in PV patients not only provides significant correlations with IIF, treatment and disease type, but may serve as a monitoring tool for clinical course and treatment guidance.
Patients who undergo chemical peelings tend to have low levels of self-esteem. Although facial lesions in skin diseases such as acne, acne scars, rosacea, and melasma seem to have negative effect on individuals' self-consciousness, patients who would be submitted to chemical peeling in order to treat wrinkles, loss of radiance, and skin tone clarity have even lower self-esteem. Chemical peelings were shown to favorably affect patient's self-esteem since all patients showed an increase in self-esteem after treatment, while the control group experienced no change.
Introduction
Melasma is a common acquired disorder of hyperpigmentation and has a significant effect on quality of life. The aim of this prospective cross-sectional study was to assess the effect of melasma on depression, social anxiety and self-esteem in the Greek population.
Methods
The study included a total of 254 participants: 127 patients with melasma and an equal sample of healthy controls. Both participant groups completed the following psychometric measures: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess anxiety and depression and Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale (RSES) for self-esteem. Furthermore, in patients with melasma, quality of life was assessed using Melasma Quality of Life (MELASQoL).
Results
Melasma patients (7.47 ± 4.53) presented statistically significantly higher anxiety compared to healthy controls (6.06 ± 3.59,
p
= 0.006), while no differences emerged with regard to depression or self-esteem. It is important to note that the difference regarding anxiety remained significant (
b
= 1.25,
p
= 0.003) even after adjusting for age, depression and self-esteem. A higher disease severity (MASI) correlated statistically significantly with longer disease duration (
r
= 0.24,
p
< 0.001), higher depression (
r
= 0.28,
p
= 0.002), and a more impaired health-related quality of life (MelasQol;
r
= 0.29,
p
< 0.001). Notably, a more impaired health-related quality of life was also correlated with higher depression (
r
= 0.19,
p
= 0.027) and lower self-esteem (
r
= − 0.31,
p
< 0.001).
Conclusion
The results of this study highlight the importance of evaluating quality of life, anxiety and depression in patients with melasma. The therapeutic approach should not be based solely on clinical findings; it should also include an evaluation of the patient’s psychological aspects. Dermatologists can further improve their patient care by being supportive or requesting psychological intervention when needed, resulting in better compliance with treatment and an improved social and psychological status.
Cutaneous leiomyomas are uncommon, benign smooth muscle tumors originating from the arrector pili muscle of the hair follicle that are frequently unrecognized and underdiagnosed by clinicians. They sometimes coexist with common uterine fibroids in an inherited disorder named multiple cutaneous and uterine leiomyomatosis, also referred to as Reed's syndrome. We report a case of Reed's syndrome in a young woman who had been misdiagnosed for many years.
histology and molecular fungal diagnosis were obtained. The DNA-chip-based technology detected Trichophyton benhamiae, and systemic antifungal administration of fluconazole led to rapid improvement within 11 days. The diagnosis of deep trichophytia was later confirmed by histopathological examination.In all cases, diagnosis of tinea was made using multiplex PCR and histopathological findings (in two cases), whilst microscopic detection was inconclusive, and results from culture were still pending when therapeutic decisions had to be taken. The molecular dematomycosis array is a novel and practical method to detect fungal infections within 1-2 days. It is characterized by a high sensitivity (82%) and specificity (91%). By contrast, the sensitivity of direct microscopy and culture are significantly lower (Bieber et al., submitted). Furthermore, it is a non-invasive method, allows species identification and swabs can be used to obtain material for analysis.Overall, this case series underscores the relevance of molecular diagnosis of fungal skin infections, which in the near future should improve the management tinea.
AcknowledgementThe patients in this manuscript have given written informed consent to the publication of their case details.
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